The government has admitted it did not do an impact assessment on how the IHT increase would hit UK farmers. An FOI submitted by the Conservative Rural Forum has revealed Defra couldn’t estimate how many farms would be affected—or how much they’d have to pay—as that “information is not held”. Ploughing more pressure on the government to U-turn on the policy…
It’s no wonder Starmer parroted BBC Verify’s estimate that only 500 estates a year would be affected – a claim they have since deleted. He didn’t have his own numbers. Meanwhile, as small farms face selling off their land to pay the death tax, foreign farmers are being handed £536 million – five times the revenue the tax is hoped to generate for the Treasury. As one farmer put it to Guido on Tuesday, “it’s a tax without any thought put into it”. They were right…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”